BERLIN (Reuters) - Two hundred years after Otto von Bismarck was born, Germans are still struggling with the legacy of their first leader: was he a war-mongering villain, or a benevolent hero who united Germany in 1871 and created the world's first welfare state?
Their diametrically opposed views reflect forces that still tug on Berlin as it grapples with leading but not dominating in Europe. German President Joachim Gauck and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble both alluded to that conflict on Wednesday when they spoke at a ceremony in Berlin marking Bismarck's 200th birthday.
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